Importance
by Uozumi
Summary: Sometimes there are things one cannot stop or one will face repercussions throughout time and space. It's 1985 in the Ozark Mountains. Sammy is very sick and on their way to a hunter doctor, the young brothers encounter a strange Doctor and woman.


**Fandom** _Doctor Who_ (2005)/_Supernatural_  
><strong>Chapter Character(s)Pairing(s)** Dean Winchester, Donna Noble, John Winchester, Sam Winchester, Tenth Doctor; no pairings intended  
><strong>Genre<strong> Alternate Universe/Crossover/Family/Fantasy/Gen/Pre-series/Supernatural  
><strong>Rating<strong> PG  
><strong>Word Count<strong> 2,837  
><strong>Disclaimer<strong> Doctor Who c. Newman, Webber, Wilson, Davies, Moffat BBC; Supernatural c. Kripke, CW, WB  
><strong>Summary<strong> Sometimes there are things one cannot stop or one will face repercussions throughout time and space. It's 1985 in the Ozark Mountains. Sammy is very sick and on their way to a hunter doctor, the young brothers encounter a strange Doctor and woman.  
><strong>Warning(s)<strong> possible spoilers up through series four episode twenty of _Doctor Who_ (2005) and season four episode twenty-two of _Supernatural_, mentions of childhood verbal abuse  
><strong>Notes<strong> I've been wanting to write a Tenth Doctor/SPN crossover for a while now. Every time I started it, I just had the wrong story. This time, though, I figured out the right story even if tried to be difficult along the way. As far as spoilers go, there are no Eleventh Doctor spoilers and concerning _Supernatural_ spoilers, there's discussion of a major character plot point that the viewers are unaware of until season four, however, I put a slightly AU spin on it.

_**Importance**_

Six-year-old Dean Winchester had seen someone carry a child like this on TV, and he finally managed to figure out how exactly it worked. "Throw up on me and I'll get oatmeal instead of Lucky Charms next time I go shopping," he muttered and looped the long scarf around both Sam's body and his own before tying two knots at his waist. Dean picked the idea of securing someone piggyback with a scarf from a cartoon, and he was relieved to find out it was one of the few things seen in cartoons that could work in real life.

Two-year-old Sam Winchester made a noise as if he could make no promises and wrapped his arms around Dean's neck. Dean made sure the hunters' cabin locked tightly and then started down a dirty road for town. It was 1985 and only those with more income than the average hunter could afford cell phones. The cabin their dad left them at had a front room and a kitchen along with an upper loft. There was an outhouse out back and an old time phone that did not have a dial tone any longer. Hunters could come and go from the cabin as they pleased, but it was rare anyone ran into someone already occupying the cabin.

Their dad told them to stay put under all circumstances, but Dean knew Sam was sick, too sick to wait for their dad to come home from his hunting trip. At first, Dean thought Sam had the stomach flu, and as he had a few times before, bribed Sam into hydration with 7-up and cleaned up whatever messed that did not make it outside in time. However, yesterday Sam came down with a fever hotter than any Dean ever felt. Cold things did not abate the fever and when they woke up this morning, Sam's body was starting to turn bright red in blotches like a really weird sunburn. Dean had never seen anything like it before, and instinct told him that Sam needed a doctor.

There was a doctor down a long dirt road and a few houses down a state road. It took several minutes by car, but Dean thought it might not be that hard to walk. However, they had yet to hear the state road traffic before Dean found his legs were already getting tired. Sam, according to their dad, was big for his age, and he was quickly becoming too much for Dean to carry. Dean knew he had to keep going. If their dad found them here, it would be more trouble maybe than if their dad caught up to them at the doctor's house. At least there, the doctor might be able to talk sense into their dad before he started in on lectures about safety that made Dean feel like the worst brother and son that ever lived.

"Where are we?" Dean heard a woman's voice say. It was a weird voice like on PBS late at night when Dean needed to watch something to help stay awake and guard Sam in motels.

"United States," a man's voice answered in a similarly weird voice, "Ozark mountains, Missouri," he paused, "1985."

Dean froze. Sam whimpered, "Dean…'m hot."

"Shhh," Dean whispered, "just shhh a moment." He looked around for a good place to hide.

"Well, they're not really mountains," the man continued. "It's more of a high plateau." The voice approached closer.

Dean crouched down behind a nearby bush. It was uncomfortable with Sam on his back and his legs tired from walking, but he had to protect Sam and get him to the doctor's house. He hoped these hikers would not need a bathroom in the bushes soon.

Sam started to sniffle. "But 'm hot."

"Shhhh, it's important," Dean hissed.

"That's nice," the woman responded, "but why are we here?"

"Don't know yet," the man stated, his voice slowing with each word. They stood near the bushes Dean hid behind with Sam. Sam cried softly into Dean's shoulder. The branches of the bush pulled back and a tall man with wild brown hair and friendly brown eyes peered down at the boys. "Hello, there."

Dean was not sure what to do. He had left his gun back at the cabin because he could not carry Sam and the gun. He tried to figure out how to place himself so Sam was in the least amount of danger.

"I'm the Doctor, this is Donna Noble." the Doctor nodded to a woman with long red hair behind him. "Who are you?"

Dean hesitated. He had such a long walk to the hunter doctor, and Sam was so very sick. He knew their dad told him not to talk to strangers and the TV said that strangers might kidnap you into their cars and try to do bad things to you, but Sam need a doctor and here was a doctor. "D…Dean." He eyed the Doctor cautiously. "This is Sammy. He's really sick."

"Good thing I'm a Doctor then," the Doctor said. He walked around the bush and knelt down near Dean as one might kneel near a wild animal in a cage. "Looks like you tie good knots. Think we can untie them to look at Sammy?"

Dean looked at Donna who stayed on the other side of the bush, keeping an eye on all of them. Dean's gaze moved back to the Doctor. "Dad taught me knots." He worked his small fingers into the knots around his waist and loosened them. Carefully he undid the scarf from around Sam, but his brother did not let go.

"Dean…" Sam sobbed quietly.

"Sammy, you got to let go," Dean instructed and pried his brother off before helping Sam lay down on the grass. "This guy's a doctor." Dean stayed close to Sam, keeping his eyes on the Doctor and the Doctor's hands.

"It looks like scarlet fever," Donna noted. She was keeping her distance just in case.

"It does, but," the Doctor reached into his suit jacket pocket and pulled out a device, "it also looks like other things."

"What's that?" Dean eyed the device closely. "You're not going to phaser Sam."

"This," the Doctor held the device vertically, "is a sonic screw driver. I point it at things and it tells me a lot. It also can unlock doors and shoot sonic waves, but this setting," he turned the sonic screwdriver so he held it horizontally, "is a body scanner."

Dean leaned forward to try to deduce what the Doctor was trying to show him. "So…a med scanner? Like Dr. McCoy on TV?"

The Doctor considered the question and then nodded. "Only it stays all together. One device." The Doctor observed Dean's skeptical expression. "I'll tell you what. I'll use it on Donna –"

"What?" Donna asked, caught off guard.

"– And then we'll use it on Sammy, all right?" The Doctor's eyes found Donna's gaze.

Dean followed the Doctor's eyes to look at Donna as well. "All right," he relented.

The Doctor stood up then and approached Donna. "Let's see." The sonic began to glow blue and made a scanning noise.

Donna kept her eyes on the blue light. "Don't say anything weird."

The Doctor's sonic stopped making noise and he looked at its side. "There's nothing weird to say. No viruses," he spoke slowly as though he had a lot of information on the small sonic screwdriver, "no bacteria. However…." The Doctor reached into his pocket and pulled out tweezers.

"'However…' what?" Donna kept her eyes on the tweezers. "What are you doing?"

"Hold still, Donna," the Doctor also got out a small vial. He reached out with the tweezers and used a slow, steady motion to pull something from her skin and put it in his vial. Quickly he capped the vial and put the tweezers back in his pocket.

"What is that?" Donna had an inkling. "Is that a tick? Was that really on me?" She swept her hands over her body as though she might feel more attached.

"Maybe," the Doctor peered at the insect in the vial and then placed the vial in his pocket, "but we should scan Sammy now, right?"

"Yeah," Dean agreed. "Hey, Sammy, this guy's a doctor, so don't worry, okay?"

Sam whimpered for their Dean again. He had his eyes closed tightly and his face seemed to be redder than before.

The Doctor knelt down again and pointed his sonic screwdriver at Sam. After a bit of scanning, he studied the device. He frowned deeply and then he scanned Dean.

"What are you scanning me for?" Dean tried to lean over and see whatever the Doctor was looking at.

"Sometimes when one brother is sick, the other brother also comes down with the same sickness," the Doctor explained, but the tone of his voice betrayed there was something more than illness on Sam's scan. He leaned back on his heels and pulled out his retro 3-D glasses. He studied the sonic screwdriver through the glasses.

"Wha…What is it?" Dean moved closer.

The Doctor took his glasses off and put the glasses and his sonic screwdriver back in the pocket of his suit jacket. "Dean," he asked, "are there foods or drinks your brother likes that you don't?"

Dean shook his head. "Not really. More like I eat things he won't." He paused. "Is that bad?"

"No, no," the Doctor answered, "that's normal." Then he stood up. "There's something in the TARDIS I need."

"I can get it," Donna offered, eager not to get another tick. "What do you need?"

"A box, little white thing under the third drawer of the second cabinet," the Doctor answered. "It has blue hinges."

Donna considered where it would be and nodded. "All right." She started back the way the pair came, keeping her eyes out for cars that might come along the dirt road.

"What's a TARDIS?" Dean asked. He looked at Sam who was still sleeping fitfully.

"It's a time machine and space ship," the Doctor answered. "I can take you anywhere you want to go and bring you right back to the same place and time."

"So it's your car?" Dean perked at the idea of a time traveling car. There were commercials for a movie about a teenager with a time traveling car on the television lately. Dean wondered if the Doctor lived in his TARDIS car like the Winchesters sometimes lived in the Impala.

"Yes and no," the Doctor answered. "It's a kind of vehicle, but you know missing four wheels, not much of a car, right?"

Sam shivered and whimpered again. Dean pulled off his jacket and put it over his brother, tucking it in around Sam as best he could. He could feel the Doctor watching the movements like a few teachers Dean had off and on the past two years liked to do if he was in class doing assignments.

"So, are your parents at work?" the Doctor asked, keeping the question casual.

"Dad is," Dean answered. "He'll be back soon." The child put his hand to his brother's forehead to check on the boy's fever.

"Then you could have waited at home for him to return," the Doctor suggested, almost as if he knew something.

"Sammy's sick," Dean said as if that was all the justification he would need for his actions. "He's important, so I have to make sure he gets better."

"Both of you are important," Donna stated as she returned. She handed a small white box with blue hinges to the Doctor. "I'm sure your dad would be worried to know you're both out here alone."

Dean looked dubious but did not answer the conjecture. He eyed the white box suspiciously. "What is that?"

The Doctor examined the box and then looked at Dean. "Your brother gets sick often when you look after him, doesn't he? And you, being the good brother you are, take care of him as well as anyone, right?"

"Yeah," Dean said. "It's not my fault. He probably doesn't wash his hands that much. I figured out I got to wash my hands if I want to…" his voice trailed as he searched for the right phrase, "watch Sammy right." It avoided lectures that made Dean feel useless.

"That's why you brought him all this way, looking for a doctor. This here," the Doctor tapped his box, "is medicine. Your brother has a fever and rash, this should help clear it up completely in about twenty four hours." His face remained light, but there was a seriousness about the entire situation.

Dean kept his eyes on the white box. "Can I smell it?" Strangers who wanted to kidnap kids were supposed to lure them with candy according to the TV.

The Doctor opened the box. Inside was a dark red syrupy liquid. Dean sniffed the contents more than once and then wrinkled his nose. "I believe it." The liquid smelled bitter and a bit metallic. "And you really think it'll work?"

"I'm the Doctor, aren't I?" He waited for Dean to give approval before making any moves.

"All right," Dean said. He reached out and pulled Sam up into a sitting position. "Hey, Sammy, this doctor is going to give you something good."

"Candy?" Sam sleepily whined hopefully.

"Yeah, sure," Dean lied. "Just drink it all."

Sam lulled against Dean and the Doctor carefully administered the contents of the box to the child. His eyebrows furrowed as he did so but his expression did not look as grim. One the box was empty, the Doctor placed it back in his pocket. He swallowed and nodded. "Donna and I can take you back."

As the group made their way towards the cabin, Sam's fever broke and his skin began to clear a little around the edges of the inflamed skin. The group reached the cabin just as the sun began to set. Dean stopped walking and turned towards Donna, who was carrying the sleeping Sam. "You can't come in," Dean said and offered his arms to take the sleeping Sam from her. "Dad doesn't like strangers and he'll be home soon."

Donna exchanged a look with the Doctor and then slowly helped transfer Sam to Dean. Dean wrapped an arm around Sam to help him as one might a limping person into the cabin. "We'll be okay," he said. It was clear Sam would recover and maybe their foray into the wilderness would be a secret their dad would never learn. Dean helped Sam into the cabin and closed the door. Donna and the Doctor could hear the locks locking properly on the other side of the door.

Donna looked at the Doctor once the last lock locked and squeezed his hand. "What was in that box?"

The Doctor watched the cabin for a bit longer and began to move away to a place they could watch over the area without detection. "Demon blood." He did not have to look at Donna to see her face. "I saw…I knew I couldn't avoid it." He reached into his pocket and showed Donna the sonic screwdriver as though she could understand the lights blinking at them on the side. "That child was starving." He studied his sonic screwdriver as though it could explain everything to him. He knew why he had to do what he did, but it still sat like a bad taste.

"He looked nourished," Donna answered. "If anything, he looked better off than the older boy, sickness aside."

"That's the thing," the Doctor finally erased the information from the body scan he preformed on Sam. "He was starving without demon blood, but the human food kept him from looking so close to starvation. He needs just a little bit, too little for possession, but when his body runs out completely, it starts to deteriorate." He put the sonic screwdriver back into his pocket. "I had to do it or he would have died."

"But demon blood…" Donna's voice trailed. She studied the Doctor's face and then shook her head. "Spoilers? Like in that library?"

"Yes," the Doctor leaned against a tree, "spoilers. Sometimes I see what has to be done for the sake of time, space, and this planet. I can't just alter things to suit myself." He looked between the leaves on the trees at the road leading up to the cabin. There were car lights approaching. A black 1967 Chevy Impala pulled up to the cabin and a man in his thirties exited the car. The Doctor and Donna watched him knock on the door in a certain beat and then watched Dean open the door. The child threw salt at the man and touched him with a silver spoon before letting the man enter the cabin and closing the door behind them.

"Their dad," Donna stated quietly.

"Yes," the Doctor answered and his expression hardened before he looked away and led them somberly back to the TARDIS.

**The End**


End file.
